Getting To Know You...

Eric started his therapy last week. Right he is having 2 sessions a week for 2 hours each session. He has had 3 sessions as of now. His next will be Thursday. We have 90 days to work to the state minimum hours so we are taking advantage of this time for all of us to get used to each other. Plans and goals are being established and written. Eric's routines and habits are observed, along with household rules and operation. Toys have been brought in and tested to see what will motivate him to participate. They also tickle him, lift him and give him time for physical play since he enjoys that so much. He also loves music and to be sang to (as long as it's not mommy doing the singing!).

This is the therapy bible with all the records, plans, notes, ect. This is a big binder because we know this is going to get thick quick!

This is the box of motivators which will be used as rewards. Like anyone else, kids like a little incentive for doing things that they otherwise would rather not do :) .

The ball won't fit in the box but the purpose is the same as the toys in the box.

During these first 3 sessions I have learned that we really have to start with the basics with Eric. The goals focus on social skills, communication, compliance, and tolerance. He keeps wanting to turn off the lights during therapy sessions. We are trying to get him to understand that the lights have to stay on and tolorate them being on when needed. We are also trying to think of a way to get him to put his cup down on his tray or something beside it so I don't have to stand there while he drinks to take the cup when he is done and give it back when he wants it again. He can recite the alphabet so they start out with a few letters and ask him to say the next one in sequence. This is not an academically based program. He gets that at school and the state wants as little overlap as possible. The goal here is to persist with him until he does what is asked aka complience. They keep repeating the letters and the requested response until he does it. It can take a while since he only does this when he wants to. We know he can do it, it is just getting him to do it on command. Pulling him away from enjoyable activities is a challenge. He had a fit when the computer was turned off before he was done. Transitioning will also be addressed. He surprised us by saying the word "tickle" when they were tickling him. So now he is asked to say the word and he will get the tickles as a reward. This is going well. They tend to say and ask for what they want the most:) .We are also working on greetings since he knows the words "hi" and "bye bye". It is a good thing we have 3 years. He is handling this better than I expected. There are some meltdowns and that is to be expected. But we all live. As time goes by he is going to be putting in more time and more is going to be asked of him. We shall see how it goes.